Read the full article by Chris Ullery (Bucks County Courier Times)
“The U.S. House bill would lead to widespread testing for PFAS at projects involving the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, a massive testing endeavor to learn more about the unregulated chemical that has closed many drinking water wells in Bucks and Montgomery counties.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers might soon need to test all federal drinking water projects for the same perfluorinated chemicals at the center of mass water contamination in Bucks and Montgomery counties.
A bipartisan bill introduced by Congressmen Brian Fitzpatrick, R-1, of MIddletown, and Antonio Delgado, D-19, of New York, last week puts the onus on the corps to determine if PFAS contamination is present at ‘any of their facilities or operating sites.’
The unregulated chemicals used in firefighting foams at nearby military bases led to many public and private drinking water wells in Warminster, Warrington and Horsham to shutter beginning in May 2016.
‘PFAS chemical contamination can lead to serious health issues, and we must act with an urgency that matches the scale of the problem,’ Fitzpatrick said in a news release last week.
The chemicals were a ubiquitous part of industrial, commercial and retail products for decades in the U.S., but has since been linked to several health problems, including testicular and kidney cancer, high cholesterol and thyroid disease.
‘The more we learn about these chemicals, the clearer the danger becomes. That is why the American people deserve to know where these toxins are used.,’ Fitzpatrick added…”